NOFX – Youth Brigade – Channel 3 – SIN 34 – at The Fonda Theater – Hollywood, CA

If there’s anything important to be learned in life that we all learned from NOFX’s 25th anniversary show last night, it is that: 1. You CAN’T get drunk with root beer, 2. Fat Mike is in fact skinnier than most of the fat sweaty guys found at your local Punk show, and 3. If you’re under 21, you do not belong at a Punk show because Fat Mike says so. Thank God we have Fat Mike to guide us from these errors. NOFX played last night at The Henry Fonda Music Box Theater in Hollywood along with Youth Brigade, Channel 3, and Sin 34. The show was dubbed "The 4 Eras" show, and former members Dave Casillas and Steve Kidwiler joined forces with NOFX again to pay tribute to each "era" of NOFX’s music history.

Sin 34 was the opening band for the 4 Eras show, but it could have well been Sin 34′s own reunion show. The last time Sin 34 played with NOFX was nearly two decades ago, which was around the same time that Sin 34 called it quits, as said by guitarist Michael Glass. The last show they played with NOFX was around the corner from the Fonda Theater at a place called The Cathay de Grande that was at the corner of Selma and Argyle. The band has been on a 20+ year break until recently, and the reconciliation of the band is honestly the best thing to happen to Punk music today. Sin 34′s performance last night set the bar high for the rest of the bands on the bill, and vocalist Julie Lanfeld was completely mesmerizing. Julie Lanfeld had the looks and the attitude to captivate the audience, but her musical performance in the band took the prize. Sin 34 had the stage presence of a bunch of energetic teenagers, which made their set all the more amazing and impressive.

Channel 3 was second on the bill, and by the time they went on stage, there was movement in the pit as more people began to fill the floor. During Channel 3′s set, songs like "I Got a Gun" and "You Make Me Feel Cheap" got the crowd started and going. Later, vocalist Mike Magrann paid his respects to Lux Interior of The Cramps who died earlier in the week, by covering "Goo Goo Muck", a song which sparked tremendous participation from the audience.

Youth Brigade brought the second biggest crowd of the night, and upon kicking off their set with "Where Are All The Old Man Bars", the floor flourished quickly into a fast paced mob of rowdy and reckless people moving to the beat of the song. Throughout Youth Brigade’s set, the pit never stopped going or receiving action. When the band ended their set with "Sink With California", no person was granted immunity from the chaos of the floor. Whether you were innocently standing by or just attempting to keep people from falling or flying into you, you were somehow caught in the frenzy and unable to escape. The song was the best choice for the finale of the Brigade, and it only foreshadowed what the wrath of NOFX would bring.

Before the show, Mark Stern the drummer of Youth Brigade shared this NOFX story with us about the last time they played with them.

"I remember us playing with NOFX around 5 years ago in Phoenix, AZ. The original venue canceled the show and they moved it to a theatre "in the round". There was probably around 3000 people there and they surrounded the entire circular stage when we played. The security flipped out because kids were taking over the stage and they ended up cutting our set short. The head security said he did metal shows and knew what he was doing and we had to tell him that if  he thought we were bad, wait until NOFX goes on. Well, they went on, and by the 3rd song, you couldn’t even tell where the stage ended and the audience began, The whole stage became part of the dance floor. Kids were coming up from every side of this circular stage and security was having a hell of a time. In the end, the kids won and the security folded! Great show!"

The hype before NOFX was strong in the venue, and minutes before the curtains were drawn up, people began to flood the entire floor, cheering and showing signs of anticipation. As the lights began to dim, people’s voices grew louder and more anxious. When the curtain finally went up, the entire venue cheered and screamed, and Fat Mike, Eric Melvin, and Smelly all took the stage. It was a shock at first to see that El Hefe was not on stage, but people suddenly remembered that the show was "The 4 Eras of NOFX", and therefore former guitarist Dave Casillas was on stage instead. Among the few songs that Dave Casillas played with the band was "No Problems", which comes from arguably the best NOFX album, "Maximum RocknRoll".

After Dave Casillas came Steve Kidwiler, who the crowd embraced and cheered for. During Steve Kidwiler’s time on stage, hits from NOFX’s albums "Ribbed" and "S&M Airlines" were performed. It was during this time that Fat Mike put the spotlight on Kidwiler by telling the audience that Kidwiler sucked so much at the song they were about to present, that they were going to force him to play it by himself.

Steve Kidwiler then began to play "Together on The Sand", which the crowd got excited for and danced along in the pit for. Steve Kidwiler’s time on the stage resulted in a more visible impact on the audience, but the show was not even close to reaching its peak yet.

When El Hefe took the stage, the crowd roared and cheered furiously, and almost seemed grateful for his anticipated arrival. Once Hefe took the stage, NOFX finally appeared complete and true. "White Trash, Two Heebs, and a Bean" was the first NOFX album to feature El Hefe, and Fat Mike made sure to mention that it was the "greatest" album ever produced by the band. Whether Fat Mike was kissing Hefe’s rump or sarcastically taking a jab at Hefe’s huevos, NOFX began to provide us all the best songs that Hefe’s skills have ever provided us. Not only is Hefe a great guitar player, but Hefe also demonstrated his trumpet skills during NOFX’s "Kill All The White Man", which was one of the most fun songs they played that night.

NOFX continued to play favorites from all their albums following "White Trash, Two Heebs and a Bean", and during "Bob", every single person in the audience sang along and knew every lyric of the song. It was probably one of the most memorable and cutest moments of the night. Near the end, NOFX told us to wait exactly 5 minutes for an encore while they went backstage. We waited, and when they came back, they played songs from every era, including "Six Pack Girls", a favorite from the "Maximum RocknRoll" album.

The band had a second finale that was odd in choice but was a huge comical success with the crowd. NOFX lip-synced "Everyone’s A Little Bit Racist" from the Broadway musical "Avenue Q", which was more than the comic relief of the night. Jokes from the song tastefully included every race, which isn’t anything out of NOFX’s field anyway. The song lasted about five minutes, and was probably the highlight of the entire night. As soon as the musical "play" was over, Fat Mike dismissed the band and gave the good nights, and the curtains slowly were drawn back down, ending the humorous and overwhelmingly enjoyful event of the night.

For those who attended the 25th anniversary show last night, Thursdays may never be the same again. If you believed the hype, good thing you did because the hype remained true, and the events of the night went far beyond our expectations. Kids, teens, adults, and everyone else in between unified for the greater cause that NOFX provides: un-clean, un-sober, un-safe, and above all, STUPID behavior that senselessly provides all the fun and self-fulfillment you can’t get out of following the rules. It’s probably the best doctrine with most sense I’ve heard in a long time.

-Stephanie M.-
Big Wheel music scene reporter

 

More photos of the show can be seen HERE

 
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